By Neil Ravenscroft
November 25 2002

Three good points on Saturday, but I am beginning to worry about our inability to attract bigger crowds to Bescot. With the opening of the new stand, we need more people to improve finances and the atmosphere. I was surprised by some of the match reaction following Saturday's game, in that I thought that the performance was a little better than most people were giving credit for. I see that Geoff Whiting called it a Graydon like performance in another place, but I'd go back further than that - it was more like a Chris Nichol win ugly! The most pleasing thing for me was that, despite the possession we gave them, they did not have a single shot on target and their best chance came from Darren Wrack, when he chested the ball down to Wacker! The back three stood up well to the pressure put upon them and were also well covered by Sonner, who I would have given the MoM to.

It did show a couple more worries for me, though, in that we did seem to struggle to play our normal game in the heavy conditions, something which doesn't bode well for January and February (and take a look at our January fixtures!). It also, yet again, highlighted the Martin O'Connor problem, as we were far less effective after he left the field.

You could also see why Colin badly wants to sign cover at left back. With the dearth of cover on the bench when Gillingham went to 4 3 3, he was left with the prospect of playing Roper at left back, something which could easily have led to disaster, as he was constantly wandering out of position. If Aranalde or another full back had been available, we would have slipped back from 3 5 2 to 5 3 2 and been in a better position to soak up the pressure, with more chance of breaking quickly. I know Simmo was an option there, but he would have struggled in the air against the size of the three up front. Mind you, having said that, the only full back names I have come up with for the mysterious non signing on Friday were Alan Wright and Lee Naylor and they are both Hobbits.

However, it is time for the real point of my article today. The one massive disappointment on Saturday for me was off the pitch. The crowd of 6,600 was half the size of the next two lowest in the Division on Saturday and well behind the average.

Granted that Gillingham are not exactly well supported and the Sharp stand looked pretty empty, but we are never going to be able to compete successfully for long at this level without a big improvement in the crowds. The route to further success in the First Division can only be through increasing the resources available and, with the best will in the world, that can only come from increasing the size of the Supporter base. When I first started following the Saddlers in the 1960s, the papers use to refer to the faithful 10,000 at Fellows Park. To see the levels support for the club has sunk to is terrible, when we are in the most successful time in our history, having spent three of the last four seasons in this Division.
It is a sobering thought that the crowds in the last four seasons have increased by a mere 1,500 or so and that we are lagging so far down in the attendance league: -

Leicester City 28,220
Derby County 26,911
Wolverhampton 25,578
Ipswich Town 25,031
Nottingham Forest 20,709
Norwich City 20,639
Sheffield Wednesday 20,236
Portsmouth 18,562
Crystal Palace 17,492
Sheffield United 15,778
Coventry City 15,137
Reading 14,535
Preston North End 14,130
Stoke City 13,710
Burnley 13,684
Watford 13,219
Bradford City 12,620
Millwall 8,349
Gillingham 8,342
Rotherham United 7,197
Brighton & Hove Alb 6,632
Walsall 5,812
Grimsby Town 5,707
Wimbledon 2,825

In fact, without the figures for Franchise FC, the position would look even more embarrassing.

We all ought to be doing our bit to encourage more people to come to Bescot, but the question I have do ask is, does a town with a population of 250,000 deserve a club at this level when it won't support it? What should we be doing to get them through the turnstiles?

Perhaps this is the time to start getting some more success on the pitch. Who knows, we might then start attracting disaffected Baggies fans!